The Saffron Sect

All Lead Back to You / A Pinch of Chalk - 7"13 O'Clock - 2014

Michael Panontin

Well, it certainly is great to hear from the Saffron Sect after all these years. One of Canada's most underappreciated bands released what they call their "lost" second single in the fall of 2014 on Austin, Texas-based psych specialists 13 O'Clock Records. The top side, a trippy, flute-flecked cover of the First Impression's 'All Lead Back to You', had been kicking around the Sect's repertoire for at least a half-dozen years now, with a couple of rough-hewn live versions available on YouTube. You don't even have to close your eyes and concentrate to hear the ghost of Syd Barrett all over this one. Over on the flip is Gaven Dianda's more jet-fuelled 'A Pinch of Chalk', a guitar-heavy slab of psychedelia that seems firmly anchored in 1967 and which nicely bridges the gap between the Who's more chaotic adventures and those electric San Francisco sounds. Nice one.